E-bike employee lease scheme launched by Arval

Arval has launched a zero-emission e-bikes leasing scheme to coincide with COP26.

Initially offered through a group of 20 employers with which Arval already has employee car leasing schemes in place, the vehicle leasing company has adapted its personal contract hire scheme to enable e-bikes to be leased too.

It is also available for Arval’s own employees, so that they can get first hand experience to share with customers.   

Paul Hyne, Arval UK’s commercial director, explained that the scheme was born from the company’s strategy to provide zero-emission mobility options for its customers.

He said: “COP26 is making sustainability headline news. We’re all thinking of how we can reduce our impact on the environment and giving employees across the country easier access to both a zero-emission and affordable means of travel via an e-bike is more important now than ever before.

“With e-bikes costing from around £500-£5,000 or more, leasing helps employees to spread the cost at a monthly rate they can afford, something that we believe Arval is the first to offer in this manner in the UK.

“The proposition we have developed is very much designed to sit alongside cars leased by employees.

“Our view is that businesses and their staff will increasingly be looking at a wider selection of mobility solutions and that a car – potentially an electric vehicle – and an e-bike will each be the right solution at different times. However, people will also be able to lease an e-bike on its own.”

Hyne said the company had drawn on intelligence from its global network, where Arval entities in other countries are successfully offering similar products to their customers.

“We feel it’s a good first step here to test the British appetite for e-bikes for work-related or leisure travel,” added Hyne.

Arval has partnered with two providers to supply and deliver bikes including mountain, commuter and folding models, as well as the option to add insurance.

Hyne said: “Initially only offering e-bike leasing to our own employees gave us great insight and feedback, which has now enabled us to launch the scheme to our customers with corporate personal contract hire available for employees – the interest since launch has been fantastic.”

The company operates similar successful schemes in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and other European countries.

In the UK, employees can choose from a range of models which are typically leased over three years at a set monthly rate.